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ID: 147550

Impact of holy land crusades on state formation: war mobilization, trade integration, and political development in medieval Europe / Blaydes, Lisa ; Paik, Christopher

Blaydes, Lisa	Journal Article
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Summary/Abstract

Holy Land Crusades were among the most significant forms of military mobilization to occur during the medieval period. Crusader mobilization had important implications for European state formation. We find that areas with large numbers of Holy Land crusaders witnessed increased political stability and institutional development as well as greater urbanization associated with rising trade and capital accumulation, even after taking into account underlying levels of religiosity and economic development. Our findings contribute to a scholarly debate regarding when the essential elements of the modern state first began to appear. Although our causal mechanisms—which focus on the importance of war preparation and urban capital accumulation—resemble those emphasized by previous research, we date the point of critical transition to statehood centuries earlier, in line with scholars who emphasize the medieval origins of the modern state. We also point to one avenue by which the rise of Muslim military and political power may have affected European institutional development.

Key Words

State formation ; Crusades ; War Mobilization ; Holy Land ; Medieval Europe ; Trade Integration ;
Political Development

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ID: 072693

Political economy of war mobilization: from Britain's limited liability to a continental commitment / Lobell, Steven E

Lobell, Steven E	Journal Article
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2006.

Summary/Abstract

How does war affect the structure of domestic interests in democratic capitalist states and how are these interests reflected in the conduct of the war? Developing a second image reversed 'plus' argument (outside-in and then inside-out), I contend that war can alter the domestic balance of political power, and can thereby affect the orientation of a state's security strategy. Wars that induce the extraction of wealth and the mobilization of resources will empower a coalition of domestic actors and interest groups who will lobby the government for an offensive security policy, including greater defense spending, military and industrial conscription, state planning and intervention in the economy, and protectionism. I apply this model to Britain and use a research design based on a longitudinal-controlled comparison over the periods of 1912-1914 and 1914-1916 to examine why Britain escalated its involvement in World War I from Limited Liability prior to the outbreak of the war and during the initial years of the war to a Continental Commitment by April of 1916.

Key Words

Political Economy ; Great Britain ; Domestic Politics ; War Mobilization ; War and the State

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